VivaCell-MTS is the General Sponsor of the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. VivaCell-MTS informed today that the final stage of the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia took place at the Synopsys Armenia Education Department (SAED), with competitors winning 24 prizes in 10 categories. VivaCell-MTS is the general sponsor of the Olympiad. The general organizer and sponsor of the Olympiad is Synopsys Armenia CJSC.

Held in conjunction with Synopsys Week in Armenia 2012, this year’s competition reflected the diversity of participants from 14 countries: Armenia, Belarus, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, UAE, Ukraine and the USA. Out of the 418 competitors in the Olympiad, 191 were from Armenian universities and IT companies and 227 were from international universities and organizations.

The Olympiad highlights some of the brightest, most talented engineers under the age of 30. Olympiad topics for 2012 included Digital IC Design and Test, Analog and Mixed-Signal IC Design and Test, Semiconductor Devices and Technology, and Mathematic and Algorithmic Issues of Electronic Design Automation (EDA).

The competition was conducted in two stages. The first stage, held in the participants’ countries during September, involved a test to establish a baseline. The second stage involved a challenging contest consisting of advanced engineering tasks requiring complex solutions. Of 418 participants in the first stage, 34 were qualified to progress to the second stage, which was held on October 4 in Yerevan at the SAED. Of these 34 contestants, 14 were from Yerevan, four were from Gyumri, Armenia and 16 were from a variety of other countries.

«The quality of education in Armenia will define our future – it is essential to boosting the country’s competitive advantage», said Ralph Yirikian, General Manager of VivaCell-MTS, the General Sponsor of the Olympiad. «Such initiatives need to be strongly encouraged. As Armenia’s leading telecommunications operator and a corporate citizen, VivaCell-MTS recognizes the importance of supporting initiatives that lead young people to great discoveries and encourage creativity».

«Now in its seventh year, the International Microelectronics Olympiad continues its impressive momentum. Three years ago, the Olympiad took its first tentative steps toward internationalization, with the participation of students from Russia and Ukraine. This year, the Olympiad attracted contestants from 14 countries. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of our partner VivaCell-MTS, the opportunity to travel to Yerevan to participate in the Olympiad is proving to be a very attractive proposition around the world, and is creating an event in this field that is unprecedented,” said Rich Goldman, president of the organizing committee of the Olympiad, CEO of Synopsys Armenia CSJC, and vice president of corporate marketing and strategic alliances at Synopsys. “This year’s recognition from IEEE, the world’s most respected professional engineering society, signifies the high global regard in which the Olympiad is held. The Olympiad also benefits Armenia by providing an impetus to showcase the country’s developing role as a regional center for microelectronics, and it serves as a strong basis for developing beneficial relationships for Armenia around the world».

The winners of the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia were awarded with prizes at the Synopsys Gala Evening.

The winners are:
•    First prize – Notebook computer from VivaCell-MTS went to Tianyu Ma (China)
•    Second prize – iPad from Synopsys Armenia went to Mahmoud Hamdy Ibrahim Ouda (Saudi Arabia)
•    Third prize – Netbook from Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) went to Vache Galstyan (Armenia)
•    Third prize – Netbook from Unicomp CJSC went to Benjamin Alexander La Riviere (USA)
•    Best Engineering Solution – prize from Viasphere Technopark went to Vardan Grigoryants (Armenia)
•    Best Out-of-the-Box Solution – prize from Microsoft Armenia went to Reza Asadpour (Malaysia)
•    Most Creative Solution – prize from Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) went to Samvel Antanyan (Armenia)
•    Best Female Participant – prize from Partner Co. Ltd went to Nelly Khachatryan (Armenia)
•    Youngest Participant – prize from Arminco CJSC went to Grigor Hakobyan (Armenia)
•    Best Result among Participants from Gyumri – prize from Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia went to Khoren Tigranyan (Armenia)
•    Best Result from each Country – prize from Olympiad Organizing Committee and INGO ARMENIA ICJSC went to Vitaly Gavrilyuk (Belarus), Tianyu Ma (China), Arjun Singhal (Germany), Nikhil Sudhir Upadhyay (India), Anas Majdi Dahabra (Jordan), Reza Asadpour (Malaysia), Taylan Daribaev (Russia), Mahmoud Hamdy Ibrahim Ouda (Saudi Arabia), Jelena Zdravković (Serbia), Hebatalla Salah Abdulkarim A Alhamadani (UAE), Volodymyr Miz (Ukraine), Benjamin Alexander La Riviere (USA).